Edition 51: Summer 2010

Considering malaria is completely preventable, it’s surprising that so many travellers are returning with it to the UK each year. Who is dropping the ball – tourists or the tourism industry? Emma Gregg weighs in.

Your head is pounding. Your limbs feel like lead. You’re drenched in sweat and shaking like a cartoon character.

It should never happen to anyone who flies into Africa for a short visit. Malaria is preventable. Take the standard precautions while staying in an infected area and you should go home feeling every bit as healthy as you did at the start. Most travellers do.

But some get caught out. How does this happen?

Recent research on behalf of Lloyds Pharmacy in the UK suggests that chronic complacency is to blame. Further analysis reveals that luxury holidaymakers are by far the guiltiest. As the report puts it, some travellers seem to believe they’re “too posh to die”.

Their survey of over 2000 British travellers and 200 doctors shows that over a quarter of those staying in 4- and 5-star resorts in malarial regions do not take anti-malarials, cover up after sunset or sleep under a mosquito net. Over a fifth do not even check whether the area they are visiting has a malaria risk. Of the GPs surveyed, 64 per cent said that a worrying majority of their patients wrongly believe they are less at risk from malaria if they stay at a luxury resort rather than more modest accommodation.

Over the last five years, health programmes such as the President’s Malaria Initiative have made great strides towards eradicating malaria. However, according to the NHS, approximately 1500 travellers still return to the UK with malaria every year – proof enough, says Clare Kerr of Lloyds Pharmacy, that “mosquitoes have no qualms about checking into luxury resorts”.

You would think that resort owners would feel duty-bound to compensate by providing as many obstacles to infection as possible. But all too many hotels in malarial regions fail to offer mosquito nets, insecticide or repellent. On a recent inspection of all the top-end hotels in The Gambia, only two offered bed nets. Could it be that the rest are wary of drawing attention to the fact that West Africa is a malarial region, in case this puts travellers off?

Some may argue that no hotelier should be required to take responsibility for protecting clients who don’t bother to protect themselves. But is this reasonable?
Countries with a high malaria burden include Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia – all of which attract high-spending tourists. Time after time I’ve been shocked to see women dressing for dinner in strappy dresses which bare their shoulders, arms and – tastiest of all to the malarial mosquito – ankles. They’re inspired, perhaps, by glamorous photos in travel brochures and magazines.

“Wearing trousers, socks and shoes over your gorgeous new pedicure may be the last thing you want to do on a sultry night out in Africa, but it’s a small price to pay for a little peace of mind,” says wildlife television presenter Kate Humble, herself a malaria survivor who vows never to skip the prophylactics again.

“And if you bring your own mosquito net,” adds Kate, “then, at the end of your trip, you can give it away to somebody local who needs it.” It’s an enlightened response to a problem that can only be solved through responsible behaviour.